8 Reason to head to Dunk! Festival 2026
Since there is a giant Portals-shaped hole in the Spring/Summer festival calendar, you may be looking for alternative festivals filled with great music to attend. Last year I attended Dunk! Festival in Belgium for the first time and had an amazing experience.
Here are 8 reasons you should make the trip to Gent for Dunk!
Russian Circles. A legendary band in post-rock and post-metal circles ever since their debut album Enter in 2006; Russian Circles gigantic doom-inspired riffs will awe, inspire, and overjoy.
Dunk! is back in the forest! All past accounts say that Dunk! Festival in the forest had an incredibly special vibe. Finally, after many years of being a city festival, Dunk! is going back to its roots. The scenic setting will provide a perfect backdrop for the most epic festival on the continent.
Two sets from We Lost The Sea. Not only will the Australian post-rock giants be performing at the festival, one of their sets will be performing their iconic 2015 album Departure Songs in full.
New music discovery. Last year I discovered so many amazing new bands such as Goodbye Kings, Junius, Use Knife and Ciudad de Tar. Whilst the festival does cater to a post-rock loving audience, there is a lot of nuance and diversity within from ravey electronica, to neo-classical, to spoken word.
A special one-off performance from Her Name is Calla. For years I’ve been raving about Her Name is Calla, particularly their last album Animal Choir from 2019; for my money, the best British album released in the last decade. Hopefully this performance sees some more activity from the band in the near future.
The atmosphere. Dunk! Has an incredibly welcoming atmosphere. Wonderful and chilled vibes. It’s a bit less rushed compared to Portals, with longer sets you can really immerse yourself in the performances, and only one band on stage at any given time means you don’t have to miss a second.
Caspian. More post-rock legends. The American band hasn't played much in Europe recently so you’ll have to make it over to Dunk! to catch them.
Easily accessible. Despite it being in another country, it’s barely more than three hours from London’s St. Pancras International to the festival site. Hop straight on the Eurostar to Brussels, grab a connecting train to Zottegem, and then it’s a 10 minute bus drive to the festival.